Psychology

Contemporary Perspectives

Paul Okami

Research-based but highly accessible, this fresh, contemporary, and engaging volume helps students appreciate the science of psychology and understand how its principles apply to their own lives.

Psychology

Contemporary Perspectives

Paul Okami

Description

Research-based but highly accessible, this fresh, contemporary, and engaging volume helps students appreciate the science of psychology and understand how its principles apply to their own lives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FEATURES

CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES, NOT JUST CONTEMPORARY REFERENCESGiving careful consideration to the field's historical foundations, Psychology: Contemporary Perspectives provides a unique balance of traditional and contemporary perspectives. This approach invites students to develop a modern appraisal of psychology.

THE MOST CURRENT RESEARCHThe book covers the latest in evolutionary psychology and behavior genetics, ecological and evolutionary theories of learning, cross-cultural work in cognition, the latest neuroscience data (and its critiques), and endophenotype research in the genetic causes of schizophrenia.

CLEAR AND COMPELLING WRITINGExceptionally well written, Psychology: Contemporary Perspectives uses stories to help students connect with the principles of psychology.

RICH PEDAGOGYAll running features are integrated into the main body of the text, helping to maintain the flow of the narrative--and the attention of students!

* "Retrieve!" questions encourage students to test their knowledge of what they have just read. Each question includes the page numbers on which the relevant material was first presented, aiding in additional review and reinforcing learning.

AN EXCELLENT VALUEOxford University Press USA, a department of the University of Oxford, is a not-for-profit publisher devoted to furthering the university's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Since accessible materials clearly support this mission, OUP USA uses a combination of not-for-profit status and financial discipline to offer course materials that generally cost students significantly less than those offered by commercial publishers.

SUPERIOR SUPPLEMENTSWe are proud to offer instructors and students a comprehensive set of ancillary resources.

* Course Cartridges: Available for a variety of learning management systems.

* Instructor's Companion Website: The instructor's portion of the companion website--available to adopters--includes all the teaching tools described above, which are available for immediate download (www.oup.com/us/okami).

* Online Homework: Oxford's Learning Management System delivers quality content and tools to track student progress in an intuitive, nationally hosted learning environment. Assessments are designed to accompany Psychology: Contemporary Perspectives and auto-graded so that instructors may check students' understanding without hours of grading. A color-coded gradebook shows instructors at a glance where their students are succeeding and where they need improvement; this allows instructors to adapt their lectures as needed at a moment's notice. For students, this means quality content and instant feedback. Oxford's Learning Management System features a streamlined interface that connects instructors and students with the functions that they perform most often, simplifying the learning experience in order to save instructors time and put students' progress first. (ISBN: 978-0-19-934982-1)

Psychology

Contemporary Perspectives

Paul Okami

Table of Contents

ABOUT THE AUTHORPREFACEACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CHAPTER 1: PSYCHOLOGY AS SCIENCE What Is Psychology?Psychology Is the Scientific Study of Mind and BehaviorPsychology Is Distinct from PsychiatryPsychology Today Is Distinguished in Three Ways Psychology Did Not Exist in the Ancient WorldPrescientific Psychology in the Age of ReasonPioneers of Modern Psychological ScienceIs Psychological Science Really Scientific?Science Is an Empirical Way of KnowingIntuition Is an Empirical Mixed BlessingScience Is the Best Method of Gaining Material KnowledgeScience Has Goals and MethodsScience Has a Point of View: SkepticismScience Uses Theories to Explain Facts**Critical Thinking about Psychology: What Science Is Not: Pseudoscience** Psychological Science Varies in QualityHow Do Psychologists Conduct Research?There Are Three Categories of Research MethodsDescriptive Methods Take "Snapshots" of Individuals or GroupsDescriptive Research Is Valuable, but LimitedCorrelational Methods Examine Relationships among Variables Experiments Can Establish Cause and EffectWhy Are Statistics Important in Psychology?Both Descriptive and Inferential Statistics Are ImportantStatistical Significance and Effect Size: Are Results Real and Meaningful?Statistical Literacy Is Urgently ImportantWhy Are Ethics Important in Psychology?Ethical Concerns: Scholarship and Treatment of Research ParticipantsNails in the Coffin of Research Free-for-AllsNonhuman Animals Also Have Rights

CHAPTER 2: THE BRAIN, THE BODY, AND BEHAVIORWhere Is the Mind?There Are Two Views about the Location of the MindHow Is the Nervous System Built?The Nervous System Is Composed of CellsNeurons Have an AnatomyGlia Assist Neurons in Their WorkThe Action Potential: How Neurons Do Their WorkNeurotransmitters Send the SignalHow Is the Nervous System Organized? The Central Nervous System Is "Command Central"The Peripheral Nervous System Connects Brain, Body, and the EnvironmentThe Autonomic Nervous System Is Also SubdividedHow Is the Brain Organized?The Brain Is a Network of Neural ConnectionsThe Hindbrain and Midbrain Keep HouseThe Forebrain Houses More Complex Brain FunctionsEach Cerebral Hemisphere Is Specialized**At the Forefront: Male and Female Brains Are Not Identical**Although the Brain Is Specialized, It Is Also PlasticWhat Is the Endocrine System?The Nervous and Endocrine Systems OverlapWhat Is Neuroscience?Behavioral Neuroscience Is the Study of the Neural Basis of BehaviorCognitive Neuroscience: The Neural Basis of Cognition and EmotionThere Are Limits to Neuroscience

CHAPTER 3: THE NATURE AND NURTURE OF BEHAVIORWhat Are Genes?The Gene Is the Unit of HeredityPhenotypes Are Observable CharacteristicsGenes Have at Least Three FunctionsHow Do Genes and Environments Influence Behavior?Twin and Adoption Studies Disentangle Nature and NurtureThe Heritability Statistic Is an Estimate of Genetic Influence Genes and Environments Interact Why Are Psychologists Interested in Evolution? Evolution Is Both Fact and TheoryThe Theory of Natural Selection Guides Evolutionary PsychologyEvolutionary Psychology Is a New Way of Looking at Old ProblemsHuman Sex Differences: A "Test Case" for Evolutionary Psychology**Critical Thinking about Psychology: Exceptions May Prove Trivers's Rule**Questions about the Evolutionary ApproachWhat Is the Sociocultural Perspective?Society and Culture Help Shape Mind and BehaviorThe Sociocultural Perspective Highlights Differences and SimilaritiesThree Examples of Cultural Psychology **Living Psychology: Are Friends Good to Have? Friendship in West Africa and North America**Social Role Theory: The "Social" Is Sociocultural

CHAPTER 4: HUMAN LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENTWhy Study Development?Four Assumptions of the Life-Span PerspectiveHow Does the Unborn Embryo become a Newborn Infant?The Embryo and Fetus Face Challenges**Critical Thinking about Psychology: The "Crack Baby": Crackpot Idea?**The Newborn Infant Is Already Skilled How Does the Infant become a Child?Brain Development Is RapidSocial and Emotional Development Require Nature and Nurture**Critical Thinking about Psychology: Early Child Care Has Benefits--and Costs**Cognitive Development: What Infants and Toddlers KnowHow Does the Child become Adolescent?Adolescence Is a ProcessThe Adolescent Brain Is a "Work in Progress" Parents Matter--But How?Peers Matter More than Ever**Living Psychology: Our Parents Were Right (Sort of): Choose Your Friends Wisely**Moral Development in Adolescence Is Complex **At the Forefront: The Neural Basis of Morality**How Does the Adolescent become Adult?Development in Adulthood: More Stages and ContinuitiesWork, Marriage, and Parenthood Still Define Adulthood for Most PeopleHow Does the Adult Age?Physical Changes Are Associated with AgingCognitive Changes Are Associated with AgingSocial and Emotional Changes Involve Loss and GainDeath Is a Process

CHAPTER 5: PERCEPTION AND THE SENSESHow Do Sensing and Perceiving Differ?Psychophysicists Study the Relationship between Stimuli and PerceptionSignal Detection Theory Acknowledges the "Human" FactorSensory Adaptation Reduces Sensitivity to StimuliSubliminal Perception Occurs below the Level of Awareness**Critical Thinking about Psychology: Can Subliminal Persuasion Make You Buy Coca-Cola or Boost Your Self-Esteem?**How Does the Eye Work?The Eye Receives LightEyes Form Images of the World, but Do Not "See"Visual Signals Are Interpreted in the Visual CortexBrains--Not Objects--Have ColorHow Does the Ear Work?Sound Is VibrationThe Ear Collects, Amplifies, and Transforms Sound WavesBoth Ears Are Necessary to Locate SoundsHow Do the Nose and Tongue Receive Chemical Signals?The Nose Detects OdorsThe Nose Also Detects Chemical Communications The Tongue Tastes, but It Needs the Nose for FlavorHow Do the Skin and Body Feel?Skin: The Agony and the EcstasyHow Do We Perceive Visual Images?Visual Images Are OrganizedVisual Images Have DepthVisual Images Have ConstancyHow Do Evolution, Culture, and Experience Affect Perception?Face Recognition: Specialized Tool of Perception?Perception Is Influenced by Expectation and AttentionPerceptual SetPeople from Different Cultures May "See Things Differently"

CHAPTER 6: VARIETIES OF CONSCIOUSNESSWhat Is Consciousness? No One KnowsA Commonsense Definition of ConsciousnessThe Hard Problem: How Do We Get from Brain to Self?Consciousness Comes in Many Varieties How--and Why--Do WeSleep?How Much Sleep Is Enough?Sleep Patterns Are Regulated by Two ProcessesFalling Asleep Is a Gradual ProcessSleep Comes in Two Types and Five StagesThe Function of Sleep Is UnknownWhat Are Dreams? Sleep Mentation Includes Thinking and Two Levels of DreamingDreams Have Meaning to the DreamerWhat Are Sleep Disorders?"Sleep Problems" and "Sleep Disorders" Are Not the SameInsomnia Has a Life of Its Own**Living Psychology: Getting a Good Night's Sleep**Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) Can Be Life-ThreateningParasomnias Can Be NightmarishNarcolepsy Destroys the Boundaries between Sleep and Wakefulness Is Hypnosis an Altered State of Consciousness?Hypnosis Is a Social EventSpecial State vs. Nonstate DebateWhat Is the Nature of Meditation?Meditation Has at Least Two Basic CharacteristicsMeditation as an Altered StateHow Do Psychoactive Drugs Affect Consciousness?Use of Psychoactive Drugs Is an Ordinary Part of Most People's Lives"Addiction" Has Many DefinitionsAll Substances Are Potentially ToxicNarcoticsStimulantsDepressants **Critical Thinking about Psychology: The Most Common Date Rape Drug Is Alcohol**Psychedelics"Legal Highs"

CHAPTER 7: LEARNINGWhat Is Learning? Learning Is Difficult to Define"Learned" Is Not the Opposite of "Innate" Habituation and Sensitization Are the Simplest Forms of Learning Associative Learning Is More ComplexWhat Is Classical Conditioning?Classical Conditioning Prepares an Organism for What Is to ComeClassical Conditioning Includes Stimulus and Response**Critical Thinking about Psychology: Will the Real Little Albert Please Crawl Forward?** What Are the Limits of Classical Conditioning?Cognition Plays a Part in Classical ConditioningEvolution Prepares Each Animal to Form Certain AssociationsThe Ecology of the Organism Affects ConditioningWhat Is Operant Conditioning?In Operant Conditioning, the Organism Teaches ItselfReinforcement and Punishment Are the Conditioning FactorsShaping: The Building Blocks of Operant BehaviorReinforcers Differ in Strength and OriginReinforcement Schedules Affect Conditioning Punishment May Be Effective but Can Also Pose ProblemsWhat Arethe Limits of Operant Conditioning?Cognition and Evolution Also Affect Operant ConditioningWhat Is Observational Learning?Modeling Is Learning through ImitationVicarious Conditioning Is Learning by Observing ConsequencesMirror Neurons May Be the "How" of Observational Learning**At the Forefront: Mirror Neurons and Autism**Effects of Media Violence: An Unsettled, and Unsettling, Question

CHAPTER 8: MEMORYWhat Are Memories?Memories Are Encoded, Stored, and Retrieved The Modal Model of Memory Consists of "Stores" **Living Psychology: How Not to Prepare for Exams**What Is "Remembering"?Retrieval CuesWorking Memory Is Working with MemoryThere Are Two Types (and Two Subtypes) of LTMLevels of Processing Framework: Are Memory Stores Real?**At the Forefront: Are "Brain Steroids" Useful (and Ethical)?**How Do We Forget Things That Happened (and Remember Things That Never Happened)?Memories Are Constructed, Not RecordedEyewitness Testimony Is Surprisingly UnreliableChildren's Memories Can Be ManipulatedThe Seven "Sins" of Memory **Critical Thinking about Psychology: Memories of Trauma, False and True**Are Our Memories Defective?

CHAPTER 9: THINKING, LANGUAGE, AND INTELLIGENCEHow Does the Mind Work?Thinking and Cognition Are Not the SameMental Images Represent Information in Picture FormConcepts Are Mental CategoriesThinking Fast, Thinking Slow: Kahneman's Two-System TheoryHow Do We Use Thinking to Solve Problems?Trial and Error Eliminates Solutions One at a TimeAlgorithms Never Fail, but They Are Not Always AvailableHeuristics Are Mental "Rules of Thumb" Aha!Insight! Creativity: Finding Problems and Solving ThemHow Do Biases Affect Decision Making?The Confirmation Bias Tells Us What We Want to Hear Belief Persistence**Critical Thinking about Psychology: Chance Is Lumpy: The Gambler's Fallacy** Language: What Is It, and How Do We Learn It?Language Is an Open-Ended CodeLanguage May Also Be a "Mental Organ"**Critical Thinking about Psychology: There Ain't No Such Thing as Bad Grammar, Yo': The Linguistic View**Language May Influence the Way We ThinkDo Nonhuman Animals Have Language?Washoe, Nim, and Kanzi: Conversationalists or Trained Chimps?What Is Intelligence?There Are Two General Meanings of the Word "Intelligence"General Intelligence (g) Is One Way of Describing "Book Smarts"IQ Is the Most Commonly Accepted Measure of IntelligenceIQ Measures Something Important, but It May Not Be IntelligenceMultiple Intelligences: An Alternative to g and IQMost Theories of Intelligence Incorporate the Idea of gWhere Does Intelligence Come from?Genes and Environments Determine Cognitive Ability

CHAPTER 10: MOTIVATIONWhat Are Motivations?Motivations Initiate and Direct BehaviorMotivations Include Instincts and AdaptationsMotivations Also Include Drives, Incentives, and NeedsSome Motivations Are Universal or "Nearly Universal"How Is Work a Window onto Motivation?Traits Influence Work PerformancePerceived Self-EfficacyGoal Setting**Living Psychology: "Do What You Are": Using Positive Psychology to Help Choose a CareerWhy Do We Eat?Hunger and Appetite Are Not the SamePeople Tend to Maintain an Energy Balance Eating Disorders Have become More CommonOverweight and Obesity Are EpidemicThe Social Motivations: Why Do We Turn toward One Another?Affiliation Means Being Near, but Not Necessarily CloseBelonging Means Caring Relationships that EndureAggression: Why Do We Turn against One Another?Aggression May Be Violent or Non-ViolentAggression May Be Hostile or InstrumentalThere Are Sex Differences in AggressionAggression Is Triggered by Specific FactorsAggressors Believe They Are in the RightCompetence: Why Do People Seek to Do Well?Approach and Avoidance Are Two Strategies for CompetenceAchievement Is a Part of Competence Motivation

CHAPTER 11: EMOTION AND HEALTHWhat Is Emotion?How Are Your Feelings? Unpleasant Emotions Outnumber Pleasant OnesEmotions Serve Important Functions Everyone Wants to Feel Good--But What Is "Feeling Good"?Are Some Emotions "Basic"?Basic Emotions Are PrimaryBasic Emotions Are Affected by Culture Deception Is Linked to Emotion and CognitionHow Do Psychologists Explain Emotion?Early Theories: Which Comes First, Feeling or Emotion?Cognitive Theories Stress Interpretation of EventsSome Emotional Experiences May Bypass Cognition Embodied Emotion: The Body Is the MindWhich Theory of Emotion Is "Right"?How Do People Deal with Anger? Anger Is Common, Varied, and Dangerous"Venting" Is Not an Effective Strategy for Dealing with Anger**Living Psychology: To Forgive Is Human as Well as Divine**Who Is Happy (and Why)?Most People Are Reasonably HappyWhen Money Buys Happiness When Money Buys UnhappinessHappiness "Set Points" Are Not Set in StoneWhat Makes People HappyWhat Is Stress?Stress Is a Response to Challenging or Threatening EventsWe Need StressThe Stress Response Involves Activation and AdaptationHans Selye and the GAS ModelTend and Befriend: The Female Fight or Flight? Ethnic Minorities Experience Unique StressorsDoes Stress Cause Illness?Stress Affects Immune Systems**At the Forefront: Placebo: Treatment or Non-Treatment?**Coping: How Can Stress Be Managed?Optimism Aerobic Exercise Meditation**Living Psychology: How to Meditate**Social SupportReligion and Spiritual LifeIf All Else Fails, Get a Dog

CHAPTER 12: PERSONALITYWhat Is Personality?Like All Others, Some Others, and No OtherOrganized, Integrated and Relatively EnduringWhat Are the "Grand Theories" of Personality?Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalysis: The Life of the Unconscious MindThe Neo-Freudians: Keeping the Baby, Throwing out the BathwaterThe Behaviorists: Personality Is a Learning ExperienceThe Humanists: Faith in Humankind**Critical Thinking about Psychology: Self-Esteem: It Feels Good, but What Does It Actually Do?**Winds of ChangeHow Do Traits and Situations Affect Personality?Traits Describe--but Do Not Explain--Personality **Living Psychology: What Is Your Big Five Score?**Situations Can Powerfully Influence Behavior Traits and Situations Form Revealing Patterns Social-Cognitive Theories: Creating Your Own Personality**Critical Thinking about Psychology: Astrology: Is Personality in the Stars?**How Do Genes, Environments, and Culture Influence Personality?Genes Play an Important Role in Personality DevelopmentNonshared Environments Are Equally ImportantCulture Influences Personality, But In Unexpected WaysHow Is Personality Measured?Projective Tests Interpret PersonalityObjective Tests Are Constructed EmpiricallyHow Much Does Personality Change over Time?Traits Are Surprisingly--but Not Entirely--Stable Other Aspects of Personality May Also Change

CHAPTER 13: PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERSWhat Is a Psychological Disorder?The DSM View: Disorder = Dysfunction and Distress (or Impairment) The Myth of Mental Illness View: Disorders Are Social Judgments, Not "Illnesses"The Harmful Dysfunction View: Fact and Social Judgment Define DisorderWhat about "Insanity?"The Number of People with Disorders Is Not Known with CertaintyMajor Mental Disorders and Personality DisordersWhat Are Anxiety Disorders?Generalized Anxiety Disorder Defines the Experience of AnxietyPhobias Are Irrational FearsPanic Disorder: Anxious about FearAnxiety Results from Combinations of CausesObsessive-Compulsive and Trauma-Related Disorders Are in Categories All Their OwnObsessive-Compulsive Disorder Can Dominate a Person's LifePost-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Rare Response to Trauma **Living Psychology: Beware of Psychology Students' Disease!**What Are Depressive and Bipolar Disorders?Major Depressive Disorder: The Most Severe Form of DepressionHow Depression ArisesWomen Have Much Higher Rates of Depression Bipolar Disorders Are a Spectrum, Not a Single DisorderDepressive and Bipolar Disorders Increase the Risk of SuicideAre Depression and Anxiety Overdiagnosed?Social Phobia: When Is It Truly Dysfunctional?When Ordinary Sadness becomes DisorderWhat Is Schizophrenia?Symptoms May Be Positive and NegativeThe Search for Causes of SchizophreniaPartial Recovery Is PossibleWhat Are Personality Disorders?Paranoid Personality Disorder Fosters Mistrust Borderline Personality Disorder Leads to a Stormy LifeObsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder Wants Rules Obeyed**Critical Thinking about Psychology: Sybil and the Epidemic of Multiple Personalities**

CHAPTER 14: TREATMENTWhat Is Psychotherapy?Psychotherapy Involves a Healing Personal RelationshipPeople Enter Psychotherapy for Many ReasonsThere Are Different Styles of PsychotherapyPsychotherapists' Training Varies Widely How Do Styles of Psychotherapy Differ?Psychoanalysis: Uncommon, but InfluentialPsychodynamic PsychotherapyBehavior Therapy: Changing Maladaptive Behavior Cognitive Therapies: Changing Feelings by Changing Thoughts **Living Psychology: Cognitive Therapy to Fight Depression**Integrative Therapy: Using What WorksBibliotherapy: Reading Your Way to Relief?What Are Group, Couple, and Family Therapies?Group Therapy Involves Three or MoreFamily Therapy: The Family as a SystemCouple Therapy for Marital or Individual DistressDoes Psychotherapy Work? What Does "Works" Mean? Efficacy and EffectivenessNo One Style of Therapy Has Proved Superior OverallPsychotherapy May Work for the "Wrong Reasons"Psychotherapy Can Also Cause HarmCulture Plays a Role in PsychotherapyTherapists Are PeoplePsychological Services beyond PsychotherapyWhat Is Pharmacotherapy?Pharmacotherapy Uses Psychoactive Medications Anxiety Is Treated with AnxiolyticsDepression Is Treated with Antidepressants Bipolar Disorders Are Treated with Mood StabilizersSchizophrenia Is Treated With AntipsychoticsDoes Pharmacotherapy Work?Large Corporations Manage Information about Pharmacotherapy Eliminating Publication Bias Reveals a Different Picture of AntidepressantsWhat Other Biological Treatments Are Available?Electroconvulsive Treatment Is ControversialMagnetic Brain StimulationPsychosurgeryClosing Remarks: The Future of Treatment Is Integrative

CHAPTER 15: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGYWhat Is Psychological Self-Defense?Cognitive Biases Are Potent Self-Defense WeaponsThe Ups and Downs of Comparing Yourself to OthersCognitive Dissonance: When Attitudes and Behavior ClashWhen Self-Defense Fails, the Self May Attempt to ChangeHow Do We Present Ourselves to Others?Impression Management Involves Motivation and ConstructionSelf-Presentation in CyberspaceOur Ideas of How Others See Us Are Often Wildly Off TrackHow Do We Explain Our Own and Others' Behavior?The Fundamental Attribution Error: Mistaking the Situation for the PersonThe Actor-Observer Bias: Mistaking the Person for the SituationWho Attracts Whom?Positive AssortmentThe Mere Exposure EffectBeauty Is Not Entirely in the Eye of the BeholderHow Do Other People Affect Our Opinions and Behavior? People Conform for Many Reasons Groupthink Is DangerousBystander Apathy, Tragedy, and Public Outrage Deindividuation in Groups: Human Beings at Their WorstAltruism: Human Beings at Their BestHow Does Intergroup Conflict Lead to Aggression? Stereotyping Can Lead to PrejudiceIngroup Bias May Also Lead to PrejudicePrejudice Can Be Subtle and UnconsciousPrejudice in the Face of Terror and DeathObedience to Authority **At the Forefront: "Ultimate" Aggression: What Motivates a Suicide Terrorist?**Intergroup Contact: Reducing Prejudice in Jittery TimesLessons of Abu Ghraib

CHAPTER 16: SEX, GENDER, ANDSEXUAL BEHAVIORAre "Sex" and "Gender" Different?Sex at Birth Is Chromosomal, Gonadal, Hormonal, and Anatomical "Gender" Is Less Easy to Define than "Sex"Gender Identity Begins in Early ChildhoodGender Roles Are Beliefs about How Men and Women Ought to BehaveGender Stereotypes Are Beliefs about What Men and Women Are LikeHow Do the Sexes Differ?There Are Sex Differences in Play Styles and Toy PreferencesSex Differences in Cognition Favor Men and Women in Different WaysSex Differences in Cognition Might Exist in Three Ways**Critical Thinking about Psychology: Stereotype Threat: Are Scientific Theories about Sex Differences Dangerous?**Sexual Behavior: What Is "Having Sex" and Why Do People Have It? People Do Not Agree on What Constitutes "Having Sex"The Physiology of Sexual Response Proceeds in Stages**Living Psychology: Sexual Aggression: What Should You Do if You Are Raped or Sexually Assaulted?**How Does Sexuality Develop?Child Sexuality Is Human Sexuality, but It Isn't Adult SexualitySexual Development in Adolescence Is MultifacetedWhat Is Sexual Orientation?Sexual Orientation Includes Behavior, Desire, and IdentityPatterns of Sexual Orientation Differ for Men and WomenCauses of Sexual Orientation Are Not Known with CertaintyHow Closely Are Sex and Love Linked? Love as a Set of Characteristic Feelings, Thoughts, and BehaviorsLove Is a Human Universal--with Cultural VariationsLove and Sex: The Biobehavioral Model

GLOSSARYREFERENCES CREDITS NAME INDEX SUBJECT INDEX

Psychology

Contemporary Perspectives

Paul Okami

Author Information

Paul Okami (BA, Hunter College, MA and PhD, University of California at Los Angeles) is Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Widener University and a member of the Association for Psychological Science. As a graduate student, Okami published frequently in the areas of sexuality, evolutionary psychology, and child development. Some of this work gained wide recognition by top experts in related fields.

A beloved instructor, Dr. Okami's grasp of contemporary perspectives in psychology--and how to teach them--has enabled him to achieve great success teaching introductory students. He has taught at every level of higher education from university to community college, reaching traditional undergraduate and graduate students as well as returning and non-traditional adult students.

Psychology

Contemporary Perspectives

Paul Okami

Reviews and Awards

"Highly readable and engaging. Students will be captured by the author's writing." --Hugh Riley, Baylor University

"A phenomenal textbook. It's one of a kind. I believe that it could indirectly increase the number of psych majors." --Kevin Chapman, University of Louisville

"The writing style is excellent and the research and perspectives are extremely current." --Gary Popoli, Stevenson University

"A great book. Okami has made psychology accessible to a new generation of students." --Dan Muhwezi, Butler Community College

"The author's writing is flawless." --Kathleen C. Kirasic, University of South Carolina

"I am excited to share this textbook with my students. It is very effectively written and will help students expand upon and apply psychological principals to daily life in a meaningful way." --Terry D. Burger, Indiana University Southeast

"This text integrates contemporary perspectives and current research much more effectively than other intro texts. It also has excellent graphics." --David Pan, New Mexico Highlands University

"I was just about fed up with the 'same old, same old' generic psychology texts, but Okami has not given us that. This is really an innovative book that is respectful of the science, and respectful toward students." --Donnell B. Griffin, Davidson County Community College